# Source of the "Corpse Bride" story?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-the-corpse-bride-story/329915>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 7, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-the-corpse-bride-story/329915 "2005-11-07T15:59:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-the-corpse-bride-story/329915/1 "2005-11-07T15:59:49Z")

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Just saw Tim Burton’s _Corpse Bride_ over the weekend, and found myself wondering – is this based on any known story, whether fairy tale, folk tale, or myth? It seems like it had to be, but nothing came to mind.

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-the-corpse-bride-story/329915/2 "2005-11-07T17:03:52Z")

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It’s an old Russian folktale. You can read a version of it [here](http://www.timburtoncollective.com/corpse.html#folk).

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**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-the-corpse-bride-story/329915/3 "2005-11-07T17:12:57Z")

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That seems pretty authoritative. It’s interesting to see how much the story deviates from the actual movie. Only the central situation – the inadvertent marriage of the young man to the corpse bride – is maintained.